Foldable shipping container



Nov. 13, 1962 T. 5. PILETTE, JR 3,063,616

FOLDABLE SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Dec. 19, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR.

THOMAS G. PILETTE, JR.

WS QJTJ ATTORNEYS Nov. 13, 1962 1-. G. PILETTE, JR 3,

FOLDABLE SHIPPING CONTAINER 7 Filed Dec. 19, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. TF1 1 THOMAS s. PILETTE, JR.

BYWQDM ATTORNEYS United This invention relates to a foldable container and more particularly, to a shipping container which may be stored and shipped in a flattened condition and assembled for use as a container.

It is an object of this invention to form a foldable container which can be stored and shipped in a fiat condition, but which can be assembled into a box-like container form of high strength and rigidity for packaging heavy and bulky articles and which can be assembled and disassembled without the use of any tools or mechanical fastening means, thus speeding packing and unpacking and reducing labor expenses.

A further object of this invention is to form a simply constructed, inexpensive, shipping container which can be packed while it is unfolded and then folded or assembled around the packed articles into a rigid, high strength container and which may be assembled and held together without additional mechanical fastening means, such as are usually used in crating or packing containers.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled container.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container in its flattened or unfolded condition.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the container, partially in cross-section.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged end view, partially in cross-section, of a part of the container in its flat, unfolded condition.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are end views showing the successive steps in folding or assembling the container.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of a fragment of the container taken in the direction of arrows 8-8 of FIG. 3.

.The container herein, generally designated as 10, is formed of a large, fiat sheet of relatively stiff or rigid material, such as heavy cardboard or plied board, which may be of plies of heavy paper secured together or plies of wood laminated together or, preferably, of a center ply of wood with outer layers of heavy kraft paper laminated thereto.

The sheet is in a substantially rectangular form and is transversely scored 12 at regular intervals to form a front panel 13, bottom panel 14, back panel 15, top panel 16 and flap extension panel 17, all integral and all foldably joined together at the score lines 12. The panels are folded at their score lines to form an open ended container.

The panel 17 is end notched at 18 for reasons hereinafter described. The ends of the container are closed by framed panels which includes a framing formed of frame strips 20. These strips are preferably of rectangular in cross-section shaped wood strips each secured to the inner or top face of the sheet, as seen in FIG. 2, adjacent the side edges of the sheet, with each strip secured to only one of the panel sections of the sheet by means of wire staples 21 or a similar type mechanical fastening means so that the strips are permanently secured in place. The strips are aligned end to end with the ends of each of the strips bevelled at a 45 angle so that each pair of strips abut each other and together form a right angle corner when the sheet is folded into its container shape.

Each strip is provided with a groove 23 extending its full length and opening at its top edge and also at its atent C 3,063,616 Patented Nov. 13, 1962 bevelied'side edges. The grooves of each set of four strips are aligned in the same plane.

Each set of four strips forms a continuous outer frame for an end sheet or end panel 24 which is formed of a rigid, fiat, thin sheet, which may be of the same material as the sheet 11. The end panels 24 are of a size and thickness to fit into the grooves 23 snugly and tightly, to be frictionally retained therein and to form with the strips 20 a tight, rigid, framed end panel to close oif the ends of the container.

A flap receiving pocket 25 is formed on the outer face of the front panel 13 by means of a flat sheet 26 that extends the full width of the panel 13 and is spaced therefrom, by vertical spacers 27 and secured thereto by means of staples or wires 28 or the like. The flaps 17, as shown in FIG. 8, is arranged to be manually slid into the pocket 25 and to be retained therein by the tight fit and the friction thereof.

Notches 18 clear spacers 2'7 and strip 26 to enable panel 17 to lie flush with spacers 27 and to provide finger grips slots 30 to enable flaps 17 to be lifted out of pocket 25. In operation, the container is normally shipped and stored in its flat shape (see FIG. 2) with the end panel sheets 24 placed flat upon the sheet 11. When it is desired to form a container, the end panel sheets 24 are each inserted into the grooves 23 of the strips 20 of the bottom panel 14 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Then, as the arrows in FIG. 5 indicate, the front panel is folded into a vertical position where its grooves 23 receives the vertical edges of the two opposite end sheet panels 24 (see FIG. 6) and the back panel 15 is likewise folded vertically to also receive the opposite vertical edges of the sheets 24. Then the top panel 16 is folded over the top edge of the container with its grooves receiving the top horizontal edges of the sheets 24 and, at the same time, the flap 17 is bent slightly and manually pushed into the flap pocket 25 (see FIG. 7).

Thus, the container is completely assembled and is held together without any additional mechanical fastening means, simply by the frictional, tight engagement between the panels 24 and their respective framing strips 20, and in addition by the engagement of the flap 17 in the flap pocket 25. With this construction, the container is extremely rigid, particularly since the adjacent ends 21 of the strips 21 abut each other and form rigid, tight joints for the framing so that the container is capable of holding heavy, bulky equipment such as automobile par-ts or machine parts or the like.

Although the container may be large size, as for example, one model was made which was 8 feet long, 18 inches high and 24 inches deep, it can be quickly assembled by one man in only a few minutes and likewise, can be quickly disassembled by one man simply by pulling the flap 17 out of the flap pocket and folding the parts back into the flat shape.

In use, the parts to be packed in the container may be wrapped and surrounded with packing material upon the bottom panel 14, with the sheet being in its flat shape, and thereafter the box may be assembled around the contents, thereby increasing the speed of packaging and insuring a more accurate positioning and wrapping of the contents of the box.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claim. Accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of an operative embodiment of this invention, and not in a strictly limiting sense.

Having described a fully operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

A foldable container comprising a flat, substantially rectangular sheet of thin, stifi, sheet material, said sheet having a pair of opposite side edges and a pair of opposite end edges and one face of the sheet being an inner face, with the opposite face being an outer face; spaced apart and parallel score lines formed on the sheet, parallel to the end edges and extending between the side edges, with the sheet material between the score lines forming a front panel, a bottom panel, a back panel and a top panel respectively, the respective panels being foldable from the plane of the flat sheet at the score lines to form 'a box-like container having open ends; an elongated, substantially rectangular in cross-section wood frame strip'having a bottom edge secured to the inner face of the sheet adjacent each side edge of each panel and each strip having a top edge extending inwardly of the inner face of the sheet, the strips each extending the full width of their respective panels, that is, from one score line to the next adjacent score line, with the four strips at each side edge of the sheet being in end to end alignment, with each end of each strip being bevelled at a 45 angle from its top edge to its bottom edge, so that when the panels are folded into their container form, the adjacent pairs of ends of the frame strips abut one another to form a complete rectangilar shaped end frame at each end of the container; the top edge of each of the strips being grooved, with the groove extending the length of the strip and opening into the top edge and the opposite bevelled edges of the strip; all of the grooves of the strip at each side of the container being aligned in the same plane; and a pair of flat, rectangular shaped, thin sheet end panels; each end panelarranged to have its edges snugly fitted into the grooves of all of the strips at one side of the container to close off the container ends and to frictionally hold the container strips together as a frame, whereby the container may be assembled by fitting the end panels into one of the ships at each side edge of the sheet and then folding the sheet panels into container form and thus simultaneously engaging the grooves of the other strips with the respective edges of the end panels to frictionally hold the panels in the assembled container form; a flap formed on the top panel and arranged to fold over and overlap the front panel, and having its corners cut out in notches; two spacer strips at the ends of the front panel and a uniform width pocket strip overlying the spacer strips; the spacer strips partially filling the notches of the flap and being of the same thickness as the flap; the notches having their lower edges exposed and slightly above the upper edges of the spacer strips and of the pocket strip to provide end opening narrow fingertip grooves under the lower edges of the flap notches.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Osborn Dec. 10, 1889 

